Rangelands

Since the millennial drought of 2012-2016, I've developed a habit of periodically checking the U.S. Drought Monitor, especially during our normal rainy season.

Hear that buzz? The long-awaited update of the landmark UC Davis-authored book, Queen Bee Rearing and Bee Breeding by Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. (1907-2003), the father of bee genetics, and his former doctoral research mentee Robert E. Page Jr.

We're so accustomed to seeing the non-native European paper wasp, Polistes dominula, that it's quite a surprise to encounter a native, the golden paper wasp, P. aurifer, and especially in the winter. It was--and is--sheltering at the UC Davis Bee Haven.

You may not recognize mistletoe unless it sports a red bow and is hanging over a doorway during the holiday season. You may not recognize The Great Purple Hairstreak, Atlides halesus. Its host plant is mistletoe. (Color-cognizant folks who are fond of purple won't recognize it, either.

Who will find and photograph the first bumble bee of the year in Yolo and Solano counties and win the fifth annual Robbin Thorp Memorial First-Bumble-Bee-of-the-Year Contest? In 2024, Fairfield resident Nancy Hansen won the contest with a video of B.

Hearing a queen bee piping is music to her ears. So is the shimmering sound of the harp.

The annual UC Davis Bio Boot Camps not only connect youths with nature, but with each other. Meet Cole Cramer, and Connor Hsu, both 15, and both students at La Canada High School, La Caada Flintridge, Calif.

Back in 2010, UC Cooperative Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen (1944-2022) of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and yours truly, department communications specialist, wondered why no insects appear in "The Twelve Days of Christmas." Zero. Zilch. Nada.

If you have some free time during the holidays--free time, what's that?--and you're interested in insects, you'll want to watch a series of UC Davis insect "infomercials.

Suds for a bug? A bug for some suds? The annual Beer for a Butterfly contest, launched in 1972 by butterfly guru Art Shapiro, now a UC Davis distinguished professor emeritus, gets underway Jan. 1.